Independent thesis Advanced level (degree of Master (One Year)), 10 credits / 15 HE credits
The current thesis sought to analyze Africa’s portray in history teaching to assess if, and to what extent, teaching materials and methods could have implications on the development of intercultural sensitivity. According to national regulations, indeed, the Italian school should develop sensitivity towards cultural difference. To reach the objective, I considered implicit messages in history textbooks and in teachers’ perceptions and methods.
To define the features of Africa’s portray I referred to Said’s Orientalism; the pedagogical impact of the resulting portray was assessed within the frame of Bennett’s model (2004).
Critical discourse analysis (Fairclough, 2010) allowed revealing implicit messages of textbooks, showing an overall ethnocentric image. A qualitative fieldwork based on interviews showed that teachers’ methods and perceptions were in line with ethnocentric stages of Bennett’s model.
Because of these features, the study assessed that history teaching has a negative impact on the development of intercultural sensitivity due to implicit messages of materials/methods used.
The study also highlighted a discrepancy between teachers’ goals and perceptions, aimed at reaching intercultural sensitivity, and an ethnocentric teaching. To explain this difference I assumed teachers might not be aware of hidden curricula. I also proposed a reorganization of Bennett’s model that could highlight better the potential difference between the abstract and concrete level and can thus be used as a blueprint for a critical discussion on the implications current sources and methods have; such a discussion would be a guide to adjust didactic for the promotion of intercultural sensitivity in concrete.
2016.